IRLF 


GIFT   OF 


"OUR  COUNTRY' 

FROM     A      SPEECH      DELIVERED     BY 

WILLIAM  H.  MCCARTHY 


"OUR  COUNTRY' 

FROM    A   SPEECH    DELIVERED    BY 

WILLIAM  H.  MCCARTHY 

AT  THE    BANQUET  OF 

SAN  FRANCISCO  LODGE.  No.  3 

BENEVOLENT    PROTECTIVE   ORDER    ELKS 

ST.     FRANCIS    HOTEL.    SAN     FRANCISCO.    CAL. 

APRIL  25.  1917 


Into  a  bitter  conflict,  which  has  scourged  humanity  such 
as  no  war  or  famine  or  pestilence  has  ever  done;  into  a 
war  which  has  brought  Europe  to  its  knees,  crushed  and 
bowed  and  broken  for  the  millions  whose  lives  have  been 
sacrificed,  for  the  land  that  has  been  pillaged  and  sacked 
and  ruined,  for  the  homes  that  have  been  destroyed;  into 
the  greatest,  and  please  God,  the  last  of  the  world  wars 
with  more  pain,  more  suffering  and  death,  more  heart- 
aches and  grief,  more  pitiless  woe  to  mankind;  into  a 
World's  Gethsemene  of  anguish  and  sorrow  and  up  the 
steep  slopes  of  a  new  Calvary,  where  Liberty  and  Human- 
ity hang  crucified,  this  land  of  ours — this  great  United 
States — has  at  last  been  drawn. 

Patiently  have  we  endured  the  crimes  and  indignities. 
Our  property  destroyed,  the  lives  of  our  citizens  sacrified, 
our  flag  dishonored,  our  treaties  broken,  the  free  use  of 
the  seas  denied  us,  until  at  last  entreaty  gave  way  with 
endurance  tried  beyond  bounds.  The  German  government 


[Page  one] 


haij  assuisd;  its  challenge  to  mankind  and  civilization  itself 
trembled  in  the  oalance.  Then,  just  as  in  '76  Jefferson 
wrote  his  Declaration  of  Independence,  declaring  "We  hold 
these  truths  to  be  self  evident;  that  all  men  are  created 
equally  free  and  independent;  that  they  possess  certain 
inalienable  rights  and  that  amongst  them  are  the  preserva- 
tion of  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  And 
even  as  in  '61  Lincoln  proclaimed  his  Doctrine  of  Eman- 
cipation to  prove  that  the  government  of  the  people,  for 
the  people  and  by  the  people  should  not  perish  from  the 
face  of  the  earth,  so  in  Nineteen  Seventeen  it  was  given 
to  Woodrow  Wilson  to  take  up  the  gauntlet  and  accept  the 
challenge  for  "Liberty  and  Humanity,"  I  believe  that  if 
there  be  one  man,  the  luster  and  glory  of  whose  name,  the 
power  of  whose  position  commands  the  confidence  of  his 
people,  who  can  bring  forth  our  loyalty  and  faith  to  cling 
to  the  flag  in  the  dark  hours,  to  work  for  it,  fight  for  it, 
pray  for  it — if  there  be  one  man  of  this  generation  whom 
Americans  treasure  in  their  hearts,  that  man  is  he  who 
sits  a  silent,  sorrowful  sentinel  in  the  White  House,  Wood- 
row  Wilson.  And  along  side  the  words  of  Jefferson  and 
Lincoln,  future  generations  will  read  from  his  message  to 
Congress. 

"It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lead  this  great  country  into 
war,  into  the  most  terrible  and  disastrous  of  all  wars, 
civilization  itself  seeming  to  be  in  the  balance.  But  the 
right  is  more  precious  than  peace,  and  we  shall  fight  for 
the  things  which  we  have  always  carried  nearest  our 
hearts,  for  democracy,  for  the  right  of  those  who  submit 
to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own  government,  for 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations,  for  a  universal 
dominion  of  right  by  such  a  concert  of  free  peoples  as 
shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to  all  nations  and  make  the 
world  itself  at  last  free. 

"To  such  a  task  we  can  dedicate  our  lives  and  our  for- 
tunes, everything  that  we  are  and  everything  that  we  have, 


[Page  two] 


with  the  pride  of  those  who  know  that  the  day  has  come 
when  America  is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her 
might  for  the  principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness 
and  the  peace  which  she  has  treasured,  God  helping  her, 
she  can  do  no  other." 

And  tonight,  we  stand  again  "as  the  heirs  of  a  priceless 
and  imperiled  birthbright;  the  defenders  of  an  endangered 
nation."  "We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire  no 
conquest,  no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for  our- 
selves, no  material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we 
shall  freely  make."  Our  task  is  but  to  embalm  into  the 
hearts  of  the  world,  those  institutions  of  freedom,  of  liberty 
and  of  humanity,  in  which  the  freest  and  best  elements  of 
existing  systems  are  blended  with  the  revelations  and 
experience  of  buried  ages  and  epochs. 

Last  Wednesday  we  commemorated  the  one  hundred 
and  forty-second  anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Lexington. 
One  hundred  and  forty-two  years  ago  our  forefathers 
braved  for  seven  years  the  greatest  power  on  earth  and 
endured  all  the  hardships  and  pangs  of  civilized  war,  with 
the  added  horrors  of  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife. 
They  were  sustained  by  an  unfaltering  purpose.  What 
was  it?  It  was  to  plant  the  tree  of  constitutional  liberty 
for  all.  It  was  planted  at  Bunker  Hill  and  the  acorn  has 
grown  to  the  oak.  Through  the  years  it  has  stood,  brav- 
ing the  storm  and  winds,  sticking  its  roots  more  deeply 
into  the  soil,  its  lofty  head  exalted  and  its  arms  ever  broad- 
ening out,  and  beneath  its  sheltering  branches  a  great 
people  has  grown  and  thrived  and  prospered.  Beneath  it 
too,  a  homogeneous  and  harmonious  republic,  based  upon 
human  rights  and  human  liberties,  was  established,  its 
people  strong  in  their  self  forgetfulness,  self  sacrifice  and 
lofty  patriotism. 

For  their  ideals,  for  the  rights  of  free  men  and  free 
government,  the  American  people  have  ever  contended. 
From  the  Minute  Men  of  Concord  to  the  men  of  our  day, 


[Pose  three]  387359 


the  cry  has  ever  ever  been  the  same.  This,  it  is  now  our 
peculiar  privilege  to  remember.  In  distant  generations,  in 
conflicts  great  and  small,  by  land  and  sea,  we  have  played 
our  part  and  played  it  nobly.  But  whether  with  the  bare- 
footed Continentals  of  Washington,  trailing  their  blood 
prints  on  the  snows  of  Valley  Forge,  with  Crockett  at  the 
Alamo,  with  Taylor  at  Buena  Vista,  with  Grant  at  Vicks- 
burg  or  with  Lee  at  Appomatox,  the  battle  was  not  for 
conquest  or  territorial  aggrandizement,  but  that  the  fun- 
damental principles,  upon  which  this  great  experiment  of  a 
free  government  were  founded,  might  be  preserved.  And 
in  our  own  day,  the  men  who  stormed  the  hills  of  San 
Juan  and  bore  our  flag  with  honor  to  the  forbidden  city  of 
Pekin  and  the  Jungles  of  Luzon,  have  followed  the  ideals, 
the  hopes  and  the  ambitions  of  their  progenitors.  The 
unfailing  cry  of  every  American  Army  that  has  ever  an- 
swered the  bugle  call  or  stepped  to  the  tap  of  a  drum, 
has  been  "Liberty  and  Humanity"  and  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  have  never  floated  in  any  region,  or  over  any  peo- 
ple, but  in  benediction. 

The  men  of  today  are  as  good  as  the  Americans  of  yes- 
terday and  the  men  of  tomorrow  will  be  the  same.  They 
tell  us  now  that  we  are  unprepared  and  unfortunately  they 
tell  us  the  truth.  But  when  will  we  be  prepared?  Will 
it  be  when  Prussian  Militarism  has  crushed  Europe  and 
civilization  and  "Der  Tag"  has  dawned?  Will  it  be  when 
the  Hindenburgs  and  the  Hapsburgs  and  the  Hohenzol- 
lerns  have  unloosened  their  hell  in  America?  We  are  not, 
but  we  will  be  prepared  and  prepared  with  money,  men 
and  arms,  for  here  every  citizen  is  a  soldier  and  here  each 
is  or  should  be  willing  to  give  his  all.  Sometimes,  when 
I  read  of  what  can  happen  or  what  may  happen,  I  go  back 
to  a  speech  that  I  read  as  a  boy  and  I  think  of  what  Lord 
Chatham,  William  Pitt,  said  to  the  House  of  Lords,  one  year 
after  the  commencement  of  the  revolution.  "I  love  and  I 
honor  the  English  troops.  No  man  thinks  more  highly 


[Page  four] 


of  them  than  I  do.  I  know  they  can  achieve  anything, 
except  impossibilities  and  I  know  that  the  conquest  of 
English  America  is  an  impossibility  *  *  *  You  may 
swell  every  expense  and  effort,  still  more  extravagantly, 
pile  and  accumulate  every  assistance  you  can  buy  or  bor- 
row; traffic  and  barter  with  every  little  pitiful  German 
prince  who  will  sell  his  subjects  to  the  shambles  for  a  for- 
eign power,  but  you  cannot,  my  lords,  I  repeat  it,  you 
cannot  conquer  America." 

I  do  not  fear  the  outcome  of  the  war.  It  may  be  months 
or  it  may  be  years,  but  the  potential  power  of  a  great 
people  fortified  by  right,  must  and  will  ultimately  pre- 
vail. That  there  will  be  dark  hours,  I  fear.  Already  some 
of  our  own  boys  have  marched  away.  Others  must  follow 
and  some  may  not  return.  Of  them  some  future  poet  shall 
write  again: 

"On  Fame's  Eternal  Camping  Ground 
Their  silent  tents  are  spread 
While  Glory  guards,  with  solemn  round, 
The  Bivouac  of  the  dead." 

God  help  and  God  pity  the  mothers.  Theirs  the  backs 
that  must  bend,  and  theirs  the  hearts  that  must  break 
at  the  cruel  sacrifices  of  war.  Like  Abraham  of  old,  upon 
the  altar  of  their  country  must  they  lay  the  children  of 
their  breasts,  to  make  the  greatest  sacrifice  of  all.  Far 
across  the  dark  waters  to-night  the  tears  of  a  million 
mothers,  who  have  given  their  sons  to  war,  are  falling  fast. 
Every  rifle  shot  and  every  bullet  that  sings  its  death  song, 
as  it  whisks  on  its  deadly  way  to  find  its  billet  in  the 
heart  of  either  friend  or  foe,  reaches  also  to  the  heart  of 
somebody's  mother.  God  help  and  God  pity  the  mothers. 
But  this  is  war.  The  die  is  cast.  There  is  no  turning 
back.  Better  by  far  to  die  "fighting  for  the  ashes  of  his 
fathers  and  the  temples  of  his  gods";  better  to  die  midst 
the  cannon  roar,  with  the  last  thought  of  home  and  the 


[Page  five] 


last  look  at  the  "old  flag";  better  the  mothers'  tears,  than 
dishonor  and  disgrace;  better  a  thousand  times  to  die 
than  to  live  a  craven  thing,  a  man  without  a  flag — without 
a  country. 

If  this  be  the  supreme  test  of  our  existence,  then 
must  we  be  prepared  to  make  the  supreme  sacrifice.  Each 
must  do  his  part;  each  must  give  of  the  best  that  is  in 
him.  Daily  from  the  White  House  come  the  appeals  to 
the  people  and  patriotism  consists  of  deeds  and  not  of 
words.  You  have  read  them  all  and  repetition  would  be 
more  than  idle.  I  have  the  most  abiding  faith  in  the 
American  people.  I  know  that  they  are  slow  to  act  but 
when  once  aroused,  they  are  invincible.  So  I  repeat  that 
this  is  the  time  for  each  man  to  ask  himself,  what  can  I  do. 

Prom  my  heart,  I  hope  the  universal  conscription  bill,  or 
the  selective  draft  bill  will  be  passed  by  Congress. 
It  was  magnificent  to  see  with  what  unanimity  Con- 
gress passed  the  appropriation  bill  of  seven  billions  of 
dollars,  a  larger  sum  than  it  took  to  finance  the 
entire  Civil  War.  If  they  are  willing  to  vote  dollars,  with- 
out a  single  dissenting  vote,  why  not  vote  men  with  the 
same  unanimity.  The  volunteer  system  never  did  and 
never  could  produce  any  other  result  than  to  sacrifice  the 
best.  Under  this  new  bill  all  would  be  drawn  and  I  would 
not  limit  the  age  to  twenty-five  or  thirty-five  or  forty-five. 
Some  will  be  sent  to  the  front  and  some  to  the  forge, 
but  each  will  be  detailed  to  that  particular  duty  for  which 
he  is  best  fitted.  Then,  with  our  armies  in  the  field  and 
our  armies  in  industry  can  we  hope  to  make  up  for  the 
delays  of  the  past.  I  have  no  patience  with  the  patriots 
whose  war  cry  is  "Let  George  do  it."  I  have,  I  hope, 
sufficient  love  for  my  country  and  sufficient  veneration 
and  respect  for  my  flag,  not  to  want  to  whisk  a  broom 
while  others  shoulder  the  musket.  I  do  not  believe  in 
the  kind  of  patriotism  that  pictures  Patria  and  hides 


[Page  six] 


itself  in  the  colors  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  just  as  it 
drinks  rum  and  preaches  Rominger.  And  I  have  only 
the  most  profound  contempt  for  the  men  whose  sole  idea 
of  sacrifice  is  to  act  as  wet  nurses  for  the  war  brides  at 
home. 

But  I  believe  in  that  sort  of  patriotism  that  thrills  and 
hopes  and  endures  and  sacrifices.  Like  James  Whitcomb 
Riley's— 

"Old  Glory;    the  story  we're  wanting  to  hear 
Is  what  the  plain  facts  of  your  christening  were, 
For  your  name — just  to  hear  it 
Repeat  it  and  cheer  it  's  a  tang  to  the  spirit 
As  salt  as  a  tear 

And  seeing  you  fly,  and  the  boys  marching  by 
There's  a  shout  in  the  throat  and  a  blur  in  the  eye 
And  an  aching  to  live  for  you  always,  or  die 
If  dying  we  still  keep  you  waving  on  high." 

Do  you  remember  eleven  years  ago  tonight?  San  Fran- 
cisco in  dust  and  ashes  and  ruin.  And  can  you  tell  me  that 
the  men  who  had  the  courage,  the  pride  and  the  patriotism 
to  rebuild  out  of  the  sorrow  and  ashes,  this  great,  new 
magnificent  city,  will  fail  the  nation  now?  Never,  no 
never!  And  that  is  the  patriotism  we  need  now. 

There  can  be,  there  will  be,  there  must  be  but  one  out- 
come to  this  war.  And  when  Peace  comes — a  long  lasting 
world  Peace — each  ship  that  sails,  like  a  white  cap  mes- 
senger to  distant  lands  and  foreign  seas,  shall  proclaim 
again  that  here,  in  this  land  of  freedom  and  aspiring 
hopes,  the  ideals  for  which  our  fathers  fought,  have  been 
preserved  and  within  our  hospitable  confines,  the  exile 
from  every  land  may  still  find  a  home,  where  his  days  may 
be  spent  in  peace,  in  plenty  and  in  prosperity.  And  each 
shall  turn  to  that  flag,  emblematic  of  a  world's  freedom 


[Page  seven] 


and  a  world's  democracy,  whispering  as  it  waves  to  the 
"loyal  winds  that  love  it  best"  its  tale  of  human  rights 
and  human  liberties,  and  prayfully  proclaim — 

"Flag  of  the  free  hearts,  hope  and  home, 
By  Angel  hands  to  valor  given, 
Thy  stars  have  lit  the  welkin  dome 
And  all  thy  hues  were  born  in  Heaven. 
Forever  float,  that  standard  sheet 
Where  breathes  the  foe  but  falls  before  us, 
With  Freedom's  soil,  beneath  our  feet, 
And  Freedom's  banner  waving  o'er  us." 


[Page  eight] 


GILMARTIN  COMPANY,  PRINTERS 

SAN  FRANCISCO 


Mr,  J.  C.  Row 
Librarian,  Un 
Berkeley,  Cal 

Dear  Sir: 

Unde 

of  xay  respons 
before  the  El! 

I  am 
of  the  Soul11  i 

This 
inst. 


